The 7-seater SUV segment is witnessing the strong rise of the Hyundai Santa Fe. In contrast, the Kia Sorento is struggling, and Japanese models like the Toyota Fortuner, Mazda CX-8 are declining, while the Isuzu Mu-X is sinking. In this context, the 2023 Ford Everest has brought a breath of fresh air to the market.
Modern and impressive design
In the second half of 2022, it is difficult to find an unattractive 7-seater SUV in the Vietnamese market. However, when it comes to modern, powerful, and unique design, the newly launched Ford Everest is leading the pack.
The previous generation’s round and bold style has been abandoned, and the new Ford Everest now sports a tough and captivating appearance that easily catches attention at first sight. The strong and square lines, muscular folds can be seen all over the body.
The front end of the car is bold and sharp, with a raised bonnet. The two-tier grille is decorated with hexagonal honeycomb patterns or interrupted lines (depending on the version), adding an elegant touch to the vehicle.
The most notable highlight is the pair of square C-shaped LED headlights, inspired by the “Ford DNA” inherited from the F150 and Raptor models.
Right next to these headlights is the intelligent matrix LED system – a first in this price range in Vietnam. While other competitors only have automatic high/low beam lights, the Ford Everest Titanium+ 2023 can automatically dim the surrounding lights to reduce glare, while still maintaining the ability to observe other areas. In other words, the headlights still maintain the original angle, but reduce the intensity in areas with other vehicles.
Before the Ford Everest, the Vietnamese market only saw a few European luxury cars equipped with this feature. Even then, it was not a standard equipment, but an optional upgrade that customers had to pay extra for. However, now consumers can enjoy this state-of-the-art feature on a car priced under 1.5 billion VND.
Along the sides of the car, the Ford Everest 2023 continues to demonstrate its off-road capabilities as a high-ground clearance SUV. It features large and thick wheels with a size of 255/55R20. The 20-inch hexagonal-shaped wheels are extremely impressive. The wheel arches are designed wide and high, making it easy for the car to maneuver on challenging terrains.
The Ford Everest 2023 is still built on the T6 platform developed by Ford Australia engineers. This T6 chassis system is so sturdy that it meets all the standards to be selected by the NATO military to be included in the light combat vehicles.
However, on the new 2.0 generation, Ford has made some adjustments; pushing the front axle forward, resulting in a 50mm longer wheelbase. The wheel track (width between the two wheels) has also been increased by 50mm. As a result, the car has impressive dimensions compared to the previous generation: 4,914 x 1,923 x 1,842 mm; ground clearance of 200mm, and wheelbase of 2,900mm. It also has a water-wading capacity of up to 800 mm.
The interior is surprisingly modern
Similar to the exterior design, the interior of the Everest has also been completely redesigned to exude a modern and muscular atmosphere, in line with the traditional spirit of American cars.
Instead of the “muscular shoulder” design on the previous generation, the new Ford Everest has been transformed with sharp and straight lines that depict a strong mechanical beauty. The patterns on the air conditioning vents, gear shift knob, air conditioning control buttons, and volume buttons all mimic gears – a pure mechanical detail and a symbol of machinery and cars.
If you take a closer look, you can see that the leather interior and many details in the Everest still maintain the rough and bulky appearance, rather than achieving the comfort of Japanese cars. Meanwhile, the interior finishing quality of the Santa Fe and Sorento duo even approaches that of luxury cars from Europe.
In addition, the 2023 Ford Everest is equipped with many advanced technologies that enhance the customer experience. The most notable is the most advanced safety system in the segment.
From the moment you enter the car and press the start button, the matrix lights will greet you with their “horizontal-vertical” movement, creating a very impressive welcome scene. This “light feast” serves as a reminder that only Everest owners can enjoy premium features like this. Other Asian SUVs can hardly keep up!
In addition to the advanced LED lighting system mentioned above, the car is also equipped with features such as adaptive cruise control (with Stop and Go support – very useful in urban areas), lane departure warning and lane-keeping assist, forward and rear pre-collision warning and assist, blind-spot warning, emergency braking, rear collision braking, etc.
Furthermore, compared to Japanese competitors, the 360-degree camera system on the new Everest has high display quality but some distortion. Overall, the surround view camera experience is comparable to Korean SUV models.
In addition, a standout feature of the new Everest is its intelligent parking assist capability. With the E-Shifter electronic gear lever and electric power-assisted steering wheel, the second-generation Automated Park Assist system allows the car to search for parking spaces (both perpendicular and parallel) and perform all operations: shifting between drive – reverse, automatic acceleration – braking, and steering without any intervention except for pressing and holding the Park Aid button.
Along with the unveiling of the Everest, Ford Vietnam has also launched the Ford Pass application for smartphones to enhance the user experience. Through this application, users can start the engine remotely – to turn on the air conditioner before entering the car; lock/unlock the car remotely, and locate the car.
Ford Vietnam has also introduced a range of attractive after-sales services for Everest owners, including 24/7 roadside assistance, mobile repairs, home pick-up and drop-off, loan vehicles (during vehicle servicing), pricing information before bringing the car to the dealership, etc.
In conclusion, with 7 color options and 4 versions with prices ranging from 1.099 – 1.452 billion VND, the 2023 Ford Everest is truly a comprehensive upgrade: modern design, leading market-equipped features – even approaching luxury cars, comfortable interior, a sky full of accompanying technology, and excellent performance.
It can be said that the Everest 2023 is a worthy choice to own and experience. This is a name that can compete with the leader of the segment – the Hyundai Santa Fe – a model that frequently ranks among the top 10 best-selling names in the market every month.
